From where I stand

The Hobby Lobby Case Summarized

The storm of comments have died down, but they have not gone away. What will the ramifications of this opinion be? Will it be like the case of the Amish family in Wisconsin (Yoder) who insisted their children stay home from school after 8th grade? The Yoder case has been distinguished much more often than followed? In laymen’s parlance, that means it has been largely ignored as precedent. Or will it be like Roe v. Wade that marks an historic and seismic shift in jurisprudence and social construct? Time will tell, but it has certainly caused quite a stir in the meantime.

There have been many reactions to the recent Supreme Court decision in the “Hobby Lobby case”; and many reactions are emotional responses that are not guided by the actual facts. In particular, people are objecting to large corporations wholly refusing contraception to their employees. The facts are less dramatic, but they make all the difference. let’s consider them.

To begin with, the “Hobby Lobby case” is not just one case, but three. The three cases involve Hobby Lobby, Conestoga Wood Specialties and Mardel Christian and Educational Supply. Conestoga is a maker of wood cabinet, doors, and miscellaneous wood products located in Pennsylvania. Mardel is a supplier of Christian books, Bibles, education materials and miscellaneous merchandise. Of course, everyone knows what Hobby Lobby is. Hobby Lobby is the largest corporation of the three.

There is something else all three corporations have in common. They are all family-owned, closely-help corporations. That means the stock…